History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.501

v5.c72.501

From very ancient times water has been regarded as a great purifier. Ṛg. VII. 47 and 49 are hymns addressed to waters as divinities and they are there described as themselves pure and as purifying others (as in Ṛg. VII. 49. 2 and 3 '*śucayaḥ pāvakāḥ*'). Similarly Ṛg. X. 9 and 30 are hymns addressed to waters, in the former of which the waters are invoked to remove whatever sin or wrong one may have committed (Ṛg. X. 9. 8 '*idam-āpaḥ pra vahata yat kiñca duritaṁ mayi*') Atharva-veda I. 33 is a hymn addressed to waters, wherein also they are described as '*śucayaḥ pāvakāḥ*' (in A. V. I. 33. 1 and 4). The Vāj S. VI. 17 (closely following Ṛg. X. 9. 8) invokes waters to remove whatever is censurable and dirty.⁷¹⁹ In Vāj S. IV. 2 the sage prays 'May the Waters, our mothers, purify us!'⁷²⁰ The Śat. Br. I. 7. 4. 17 (S. B. E. vol. 12 p. 213) states 'water is a means of purification.' Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 191 quotes a long Vedic passage⁷²¹ wherein it is said "whatever creates doubt (whether it is pure or impure) should be touched with waters; then it becomes pure." It is therefore that water (hot or cold) is said to be the purifier of various kinds of vessels and of the ground in Yāj. I. 182-183, 188, Manu V. 109, 112, 126. Gobhila (I. 31-32)⁷²² lays down that when a man engaged in any religious rite hears a mantra addressed to the *pitṛs*, scratches his body, looks at a man of the lowest caste, or allows the wind to escape from his intestines, laughs loudly or speaks an untruth, touches a cat or a mouse, or uses harsh language, has a fit of anger, he should perform *ācamana* (or touch water).